Sometimes engagement rings can get lost and then found. Sometimes people can too. All it takes is a heavy-duty dose of karma and the magic of Manhattan to make it all come together.

Leah is a financially destitute new age hippy. James is a wealthy surgeon with a trust fund. She’s awkward, he’s poised. She’s completely crazy, he’s way too sane. People might say they have nothing in common, but they’d be wrong. They both live in Manhattan, they both have no idea how to change a baby diaper, and they’re both lost … until they find one another.

Excerpt

James.

Everything’s falling apart and yet life must go on. I still have to get dressed every day, get to work on time, meet with people who’d rather be someone else — or look like someone else — and then cut into flesh and turn it into a work of art that God never intended. But that’s because I have no choice. I don’t have the luxury of checking out on life. There are too many people counting on me to keep my shit together.

Even when I can’t figure out why the hell I should even get out of bed in the morning, I go. I work, I play, I say all the right things to all the right people. But deep down inside, I know there’s something wrong. Something is very wrong with my life. I don’t even know who I am anymore.

I sit at the bar and stare into my glass of bourbon on the rocks. The ice hasn’t had a chance to melt before I’ve already finished my drink. “Another,” I say to the bartender, holding up a finger in his direction and then pointing to my empty glass.

He nods and reaches for the brown liquid.

My cell phone rings. It’s probably Hilary, calling to tell me she’s sorry about our latest argument and that she wants me to come over and make up.

The weight of her expectations presses in on me from all sides. How many more battles can we have before we realize the war is over and we’ve both lost? She’s told me, enough times that I’ve lost count, that there’s one surefire way to fix everything that’s wrong between us. There’s one magic gesture I can make that will soothe all her hurt feelings and make everything right between us forever.

I’ve had my doubts about the ability of that magic bullet to pierce the walls we’ve built over the past three years, but today I finally conceded. Today I decided I might as well try one last thing before I give up on everything forever. I bought her a gift at Cartier, the one she’s been asking me about for almost two years.

When are we going to get married? When are you going to finally commit to this relationship?

Answer: Tonight, after I work up enough liquid courage to say the words that will deliver me. To heaven or hell, I’m not sure which, but deliver me they will. I’ll end up somewhere out of here, this vicious circle that leads nowhere, and that’s fine with me. Even going straight to Hades is better than spinning my wheels going blindly into a future I cannot see.

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About the Author

Elle Casey is a prolific, NEW YORK TIMES and USA TODAY bestselling American writer who lives in Southern France with her husband, three kids, and several furry friends. She writes in several genres and publishes an average of one full-length novel per month.